May 07, 2018

I've been thinking that Special Counsel Robert Mueller would produce an October surprise just prior to the November elections. But there may be something else in the works. Take a look at this Wall Street Journal article: Mueller Probe Might Have to Go Dark for Midterm Election (or here if blocked by the paywall). Excerpt:

Though Mr. Mueller doesn’t face any specific legal deadline, the fall midterms amount to a political one, according to experts and prosecutors. He will reach a point this summer when Justice Department habits dictate that he will have to either finish his inquiries or go dark and stretch out his work until past November so he doesn’t appear to be trying to sway voters’ decisions, which would be at odds with Justice Department guidelines for prosecutors.

Those "Justice Department habits" must not have been applicable during James Comey's term. More:

Perhaps most famously, James Comey, the former Federal Bureau of Investigation director, weighed those considerations and opted to alert Congress 11 days before the 2016 election that the FBI had reopened an investigation into then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s email use. ...

“There aren’t any rules around how we act in the run-up to an election…there’s a norm, you avoid any action in the run-up to an election that might have an impact, if you can,” Mr. Comey said, adding that he was “sure” Mr. Mueller would “operate with that norm in mind.”

Hmm. OK -- if you say so, Mr. Comey. But Comey may have established a new norm.